Gender equality isn’t just a principle, it shows up in measurable gaps. For example, the EU has a 16.0% unadjusted gender pay gap, while U.S. women make up only 10.5% of computer and math roles. From violence and early marriage to legal rights and who gets to lead, these statistics reveal where progress is uneven and why the numbers still matter.
Key Takeaways
- 1 in 4 women (25.3%) experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence during their lifetime—measuring prevalence of violence against women
- 1 in 3 women globally experience some form of gender-based violence in their lifetime (UN Women)—measuring lifetime prevalence
- 27% of women aged 20–24 were married or in a union before age 18 in 2022 (global)—measuring early marriage prevalence
- 62% of countries have achieved at least 95% female-to-male primary education parity (World Bank/GEM)—measuring education parity
- 15% of women aged 20–24 gave birth before age 18 in 2022 (global estimate)—measuring adolescent fertility as a gender outcome
- 62% of men say they can access parental leave, compared with 44% of women—measuring perceived access to parental leave benefits
- 28.3% of the world’s researchers are women in 2022—measuring gender in R&D workforce
- $1.5 trillion global productivity gains could be unlocked by advancing gender equality (McKinsey estimate)—measuring economic potential
- 34% of countries report that women are less likely than men to have legal identity documentation—measuring legal/institutional access gaps
- 15% of countries still have discriminatory laws affecting women’s ability to work—measuring legal discrimination prevalence (OECD/World Bank compilation)
- 19% of women in the labor market are in informal employment compared with 31% of men in some regions—measuring informality inequality (ILOSTAT context)
- 16.0% gender pay gap in the EU-27 in 2023 (unadjusted)—measuring wage inequality between women and men
- 30% reduction in gender wage gap associated with transparent pay policies (EU study)—measuring policy impact
- 33% of judicial positions in some datasets are held by women in 2022 (UN Women/UNODC)—measuring gender parity in judiciary
- 10% of corporate boards in the U.S. have no women directors as of 2024 (Spencer Stuart/boards)—measuring gender representation absence
One in four women faces intimate partner or sexual violence, while major gaps persist in education, work, and pay.
Related reading
01 · Category
Violence & Safety2 stats
01
1 in 4 women (25.3%) experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence during their lifetime—measuring prevalence of violence against womenhttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
02
1 in 3 women globally experience some form of gender-based violence in their lifetime (UN Women)—measuring lifetime prevalencehttps://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
Interpretation
Violence & Safety Interpretation
Under Violence and Safety, the data show that 25.3% of women experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence in their lifetime, and that 1 in 3 women globally experience some form of gender-based violence overall.
02 · Category
Health & Education8 stats
01
27% of women aged 20–24 were married or in a union before age 18 in 2022 (global)—measuring early marriage prevalencehttps://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/early-marriage/
02
62% of countries have achieved at least 95% female-to-male primary education parity (World Bank/GEM)—measuring education parityhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ENR.PRSC.FM.ZS
03
15% of women aged 20–24 gave birth before age 18 in 2022 (global estimate)—measuring adolescent fertility as a gender outcomehttps://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/early-childbearing/
04
1.4x higher risk of maternal mortality for adolescent mothers (15–19) vs women 20–24 (WHO estimate)—measuring maternal health inequalityhttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy
05
42% of graduate students are women in 2021—measuring gender balance in higher educationhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.GRAD.FM.ZS
06
1.6x higher odds of being undernourished for adolescent girls (FAO/WHO estimates)—measuring nutrition inequalityhttps://www.fao.org/3/cc5347en/cc5347en.pdf
07
0.73 female-to-male literacy ratio in 2022 in South Asia (UNESCO)—measuring literacy equalityhttps://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/literacy
08
92% of girls complete primary education in 2022 in upper-middle-income countries (UNESCO)—measuring completion rateshttps://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/education-statistics
Interpretation
Health & Education Interpretation
In the Health and Education area, progress is clear but uneven, with 92% of girls completing primary education in upper-middle-income countries while adolescent health risks remain stark, including 15% of women aged 20 to 24 giving birth before 18 and adolescent mothers facing a 1.4 times higher risk of maternal mortality than women aged 20 to 24.
03 · Category
Economic Opportunity7 stats
01
62% of men say they can access parental leave, compared with 44% of women—measuring perceived access to parental leave benefitshttps://www.oecd.org/gender/data/parental-leave-access.htm
02
28.3% of the world’s researchers are women in 2022—measuring gender in R&D workforcehttps://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-stats/sdg-goal-4-3-researchers-female-share
03
$1.5 trillion global productivity gains could be unlocked by advancing gender equality (McKinsey estimate)—measuring economic potentialhttps://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/how-advancing-womens-equality-can-add-12-trillion-to-global-growth
04
76% of women in OECD countries can access an account, vs 83% of men (OECD)—measuring gender account access gaphttps://www.oecd.org/daf/fin/financial-education/findex-database.htm
05
$3.2 trillion potential annual global GDP increase by 2025 from greater gender equality in workforce participation (McKinsey estimate)—measuring economic impacthttps://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/how-advancing-womens-equality-can-add-12-trillion-to-global-growth
06
1.7 times more women than men report unpaid care work as a reason for not working full time (ILO/OECD)—measuring unpaid care constraintshttps://www.oecd.org/gender/data/unpaid-care-work.htm
07
Women own less than 20% of land holdings in most countries (FAO/World Bank global review)—measuring land ownership inequalityhttps://www.fao.org/3/i8799en/i8799en.pdf
Interpretation
Economic Opportunity Interpretation
Economic opportunity is held back by unequal access and workloads, with only 44% of women reporting access to parental leave compared with 62% of men and women 1.7 times more likely than men to cite unpaid care work for not working full time, alongside persistent gaps in areas like land ownership where women hold under 20% of land in most countries.
04 · Category
Policy & Legal Framework2 stats
01
34% of countries report that women are less likely than men to have legal identity documentation—measuring legal/institutional access gapshttps://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialsustainabilityandjobs/brief/gender-and-legal-identity
02
15% of countries still have discriminatory laws affecting women’s ability to work—measuring legal discrimination prevalence (OECD/World Bank compilation)https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.LAW.REPR.ZS
Interpretation
Policy & Legal Framework Interpretation
From a policy and legal framework perspective, 34% of countries report that women are less likely than men to have legal identity documentation, while 15% still have discriminatory laws that limit women’s ability to work.
05 · Category
Labor & Pay Equity6 stats
01
19% of women in the labor market are in informal employment compared with 31% of men in some regions—measuring informality inequality (ILOSTAT context)https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/informality/
02
16.0% gender pay gap in the EU-27 in 2023 (unadjusted)—measuring wage inequality between women and menhttps://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Gender_pay_gap_statistics
03
30% reduction in gender wage gap associated with transparent pay policies (EU study)—measuring policy impacthttps://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/factsheet-pay-transparency-2022.pdf
04
10.5% of women in the U.S. workforce are in computer and math occupations (BLS, 2023/2024)—measuring gender concentration in tech roleshttps://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
05
52% of women in the U.S. report they are paid less than men for similar work (survey estimate)—measuring perceived pay inequityhttps://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/06/22/where-women-work-and-how-they-feel-about-work/
06
35% of the gender pay gap in the EU is explained by occupational segregation and differences in hours (Eurofound analysis)—measuring drivers of pay gaphttps://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2018/womens-work-discrimination-and-gender-pay-gap
Interpretation
Labor & Pay Equity Interpretation
Labor and pay equity remains uneven across regions and sectors, with the EU’s 16.0% unadjusted gender pay gap in 2023 and women facing widespread perceived underpayment in the US where 52% report being paid less for similar work.
More related reading
06 · Category
Leadership & Representation2 stats
01
33% of judicial positions in some datasets are held by women in 2022 (UN Women/UNODC)—measuring gender parity in judiciaryhttps://dataunodc.un.org/dp_justice_women
02
10% of corporate boards in the U.S. have no women directors as of 2024 (Spencer Stuart/boards)—measuring gender representation absencehttps://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insights/board-index
Interpretation
Leadership & Representation Interpretation
In leadership and representation, women hold 33% of judicial positions in 2022, but gaps remain in corporate power since 10% of US corporate boards still have no women directors as of 2024.
07 · Category
Education & Skills3 stats
01
41.0% of women (aged 20–24) were married or in a union before age 18 in West and Central Africa (latest regional estimate)https://www.unicef.org/media/145261/file/Child%20Marriage%20update%202024.pdf
02
30% of R&D personnel in the world are women — share of women in the research and development workforce (latest available estimate)https://uis.unesco.org/en/resource/ilove-researchers-gender-gap
03
58% of girls are enrolled in secondary education globally in 2022 — net enrollment estimatehttps://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/statistics
Interpretation
Education & Skills Interpretation
In Education and Skills, global secondary enrollment shows progress with 58% of girls enrolled in 2022, yet deep gender inequality persists as 41.0% of women aged 20 to 24 in West and Central Africa were married or in a union before 18 and women still make up only 30% of R and D personnel worldwide.
08 · Category
Civic Participation1 stats
01
30% of seats in national parliaments were held by women globally in 2024 — share of women in lower or single houses and upper houses combinedhttps://data.ipu.org/women-averages
Interpretation
Civic Participation Interpretation
In 2024, women held 30% of seats in national parliaments worldwide, showing steady if still limited representation in civic participation at the national level.
09 · Category
Workforce6 stats
01
11.9% of the gender wage gap is explained by differences in job characteristics across countries (estimated contribution) — meta-analytic evidencehttps://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13612/the-gap-what-factors-explain-the-gender-wage-gap-across-countries
02
62% of women report that they do not take employment opportunities because of family responsibilities — survey-based evidence on barriers to workhttps://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2024/
03
21% of firms globally have at least one woman in top management positions — estimate from the WEF/ILO World Employment and Wage datahttps://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023/
04
Women accounted for 47% of the agricultural labor force worldwide in 2019 — share of women in agriculture laborhttps://www.fao.org/3/cb0726en/cb0726en.pdf
05
65% of women in OECD countries report being satisfied with their ability to balance work and family life — survey sharehttps://www.oecd.org/gender/data/
06
Women represented 46% of the labor force in North America in 2022 — female labor force sharehttps://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/canada/labor-force-participation-rate
Interpretation
Workforce Interpretation
From a workforce perspective, women remain underrepresented in decision-making and workforce participation despite progress, with only 21% of firms globally having at least one woman in top management and women making up 46% of the labor force in North America in 2022.
Reference
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APA
Marcus Engström. (2026, February 13). Gender Equality Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-equality-statistics
MLA
Marcus Engström. "Gender Equality Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/gender-equality-statistics.
Chicago
Marcus Engström. 2026. "Gender Equality Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-equality-statistics.
Sources & references
37 datasets cited across this report
+16 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)